The Science of Monsters
by Roses For Nicole
Summary: Bruce Banner has his own obsession with Extremis after an explosion caused by the Mandarin. Tony Stark's best chance of learning more about the virus is flushed down the drain when Pepper refuses to let him study her... Will Tony and Bruce play nice with their shared obsession?
1. Prologue: Goodnight for Now

**2004**

"Hello, thank you for calling FuturePharm, how may I help you?" I asked into the phone, bouncing my left leg gently while rubbing my right knee. I smiled at one of the new employees as his shoes clicked on the tile floor.

"Can I please speak to Mr. Killian," a high pitched voice quivered through the phone.

"He's in a meeting right now. Can I take a message?" I stuffed a lock of my long black waves behind my ear before holding up a singer finger for a client who took a seat in front of me.

"This is Maya Hansen. I need to speak with him immediately," she growled through the speaker.

"He said to…"

"I don't give a damn what he said! Who is this?!" She hissed before breathing heavily into the receiver.

"Scarlett O'Conner," I looked towards the office door. "I can ring him and ask him to take your call, but I cannot break protocol Ms. Hansen."

"Listen, O'Conner, put Killian on the phone NOW!"

I put Maya on hold while I called Killian's office. She never yelled at me before even when she spilled coffee on herself the day she was running two hours behind schedule. Something must be terribly…"I told you I was in a meeting!" Killian's voice boomed through the receiver.

"Sir, Ms. Hansen is on the other line. She says it is very urgent."

"Did she say why it is so imperative to speak with me right this second?" His voice sounded curious. I imagined his eyebrows popping as he sat a little straighter in his chair.

"No sir, but she's yelling at me like something is really wrong," I began biting my nails as I watched the red light on Maya's call flicker.

"I'll come take the call out there, alright," I nodded stupidly as his voice faded, "Excuse me." The door to his office opened as he took languid strides towards my desk. I fumbled with the phone before I heard Maya grumbling.

"Stupid interns. They can't do anything right, and it takes forever. If this were life or death, I'd be dead… Technically…" I pushed the receiver into Mr. Killian's hands.

"What do you want?!" he hissed. His eyes trained down to the floor as his face hardened.

"I already know that, Maya," he growled, "If you would stop interrupting me, I am in a meeting to fix the situation."

"General Ross is in my office as we speak. He wants to give us funding if we can help the Secretary of State's daughter."

"Oh he is insisting on human testing." Mr. Killian's face softened as a glow entered his eyes. He lips slowly curled upward.

"Just get back to the office and get to work. If we lose the college funding so-be-it; we will get funding from someone else." He gave a curt nod before his gentle hands placed my phone on the base. The smile spread across his face until his cheeks were rosy with glistening eyes.

"Thank you, Ms. O'Conner, for being so professional in Ms. Hansen's time of crisis."

"Thank you, Mr. Killian," I bowed my head while forcing my left leg to stop fidgeting.

* * *

Six months later, FuturePharm changed management. Maya Hansen lost all her funding through the college she worked for, but Aldrich Killian gained funding from several military corporations affiliated with General Ross. The FuturePharm Company was now called Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), and Killian was able to find his test subjects. Injured military soldiers came in left and right while Maya also talked limping interns or interns with vision issues into participating with the temptation of extra cash for school.

The rumors about the 'Extremis' virus frightened me because they dealt with death or odd skin conditions. Several explosions happened in the basement with the first few tests, which didn't put my fears to rest. I knew I was a good candidate for the experiment because I had a very severe birth defect on my right leg that caused pain, swelling, and limping. I bided my time hoping no one would discover my defect, but four months after the testing began Maya caught me limping out of Killian's office.

"Why haven't you volunteered for the experiment," she asked forcing a smile.

I shook my head, "I don't want to be experimented on."

"Don't you need money for school?"

"Yes, Ms. Hansen, I do, but I think there are better ways of getting money," I stated tucking a long dark wave behind my ear. "Not to mention the rumors going around, and the explosions."

"Those silly things," she giggled. "We've got all the kinks worked out of the serum, Ms. O'Conner. You should come by tonight and see. We can fix that limp of yours."

I shook my head again as I limped passed her to finish the paper work strewn across my desk. I couldn't get the experiment out of my head though. Doctors up and down the coast for years told me that there was no way of fixing my defect, but Maya Hansen claimed to have a sure fire way? The Thoughts spun my head around.

Five minutes before the end of my shift, Maya plopped down in the chair facing my desk. I was shutting down my computer and getting my things ready to go when she cleared her throat. I glanced at her coy smile. "You're coming, right?"

"Ms. Hansen, I don't feel comfortable with this experiment." I stated while rubbing my aching knee.

"One little injection, O'Conner, and you won't have to worry about that pain anymore." Her voice was low, seductive, "This is a very lucrative offer."

I stared into her chocolate eyes that gleamed with mischief. "Can you guarantee that this will work," I questioned.

"Yes," she nodded grabbing my hand. "This was made to make you perfect."

"Alright," I agreed, "I'll let you do the experiment.

She squealed before running me down the stairs, I fell twice nearly knocking us both off balance before we entered the basement lab. The walls were charred, harsh lights glared, and a row of bodies seemingly asleep lined the unmarked wall. I could see a girl's arm burning like an ember in a fire place, and as it burned it generated new skin. She was slowly growing a new arm.

"She agreed, Aldrich," Maya sang as she skipped further into the room. "Come here, O'Conner, this is going to be your cylinder." She patted a tall empty dark silver stand; I noticed the others were setup in their own.

"Perfect." Killian appeared from behind a curtain. "Hello, Scarlett. Thank you for coming," he smiled sweetly at me.

"What is this, Mr. Killian?"

"First," he started, "I will inject you with a watered down version of the virus. It will slowly heal all of your defects."

"Like my leg?"

He nodded with an even bigger smile, "yes, after you are healed we will inject you will the full version. It will probably make you sick at first, so we'll give you something to sleep. Like these nice people," he motioned towards the men and women lining the wall. "After we make sure you adjust well, we'll wake you up and do testing."

"What kind of testing?" I could feel my voice shake in rhythm with my hands.

"Extremis is supposed to regenerate limbs and cure disease. We will inject you with an illness to make sure you will heal, and then we will cut off a limb to make sure it will grow back. Nicole is going through that part now."

The girl whose arm was on fire opened her eyes at the mention of her name. She smiled as she looked down at her arm, "Wow, it's really growing back," she sighed.

"It has grown a lot since this morning hasn't it," Maya laughed.

"You cut three inches from my shoulder, and now it's given me just below my elbow back."

I gasped with wide eyes as Mr. Killian laughed. "Tell Ms. O'Conner how long you slept for, Nicole."

"About a week before you started testing." She smiled broadly, "I survived cancer twice already."

"She survived the flu and anthrax successfully before she survived cancer, I assure you," Killian laughed. "We're proud of her."

"Jackson is still sleeping, but he's regenerating nicely." Maya informed me. "We tried to wake him up, but he's a screamer."

I removed my jacket revealing my bare arms before I allowed Maya to put me in the cylinder. "Let's get this over with," I sighed as I pushed any fears I had away.

"We'll wake you up soon," Killian promised as he set up the IV and injected me with the first installment.

"Goodnight for now."


	2. Chapter 1: Forever Alone

_**9 years later**_

Bruce Banner felt he was meant to be alone forever. Running farther, faster, from everyone who wanted to gain all the bad qualities that his physicist day job at the army injected into his body, he couldn't stop to do any of the things he'd always wanted. The love of his life would never be safe in his presences as long as 'the other guy' lurked within the darkest corners of Banner. Keep calm, keep hidden, and if ever found…run like hell. Those were the rules, and they were never broken until 'he' showed up.

The Avenger's Initiative granted Bruce friends for a moment, but after the moment was over the initiative left him running from even worse monsters. General 'Thunderbolt' Ross, the original monster, only wanted Bruce's blood to create more 'super soldiers' which would never work. The last time General Ross tried to make another turned into a complete disaster that almost killed Bruce. The newest, and much scarier, monster tracking him down had to be the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury may seem like a reasonable man, but that didn't mean he would stop hunting Bruce down for his one man army.

"¿Puedo tengo una Coca-Cola por favor, y dónde puedo alquilo un coche?" Banner asked with an almost perfect accent as he sat at the bar of an outdoor restaurant in the market square.

"Sure," the Spaniard with thick, dark curls answered before popping the cap off of a glass Coke and placing it on an off white napkin in front of me. "You can get a car over by Rosas."

Bruce glanced down as blood rushed to his cheeks, "O-oh, You speak English," he stuttered.

"Yeah, most people here in the market speak English," the man laughed causing his chocolate eyes to glow, "we need to know it so we can haggle with the foreigners."

Bruce chugged half the coke, cooling his parched throat, before chuckling. "Can you point me towards Rosas? I need to make it to England before morning; a ride to the boarder where the ferry is would be great."

The Spaniard agreed while making huge hand jesters to the left and right. Rosas was about two miles and four turns away from the market. Bruce could smell the fragrant summer flowers half a mile away. Jasmine, Spanish Roses, Dittany of Crete, wild Daisies; the scents were pungent and created the sweetest perfume. Bruce thought of home, and the beautiful yellow daises Betty always brought to work. He regretted letting his mind wonder over the glorious memories of Betty Ross.

He shook the lingering homesickness from his thoughts as Rosas became a small dot in his vision. His lips parted in a stiff smile as his pace quickened. The band on his arm beeped harshly twice reminding him to be very careful with his maddening heart rate. The little white shack with the red stone roof surrounded by beautiful flowers shined with happiness as the couples giggled and snuck coy kisses. Bruce couldn't be sadder, wishing he had anyone to share the moment with, but he held his smile.

The sweet scent of dust filled his nostrils as he entered the shack. A woman with sun kissed skin, graying hair, and defined laugh lines in the back corner was twirling a bookrack full of used gardening books. Bruce took a moment to look through the shelves of flowers arranged perfectly. A young woman with long chocolate waves and enigmatic forest green eyes appeared behind the counter. Her broad smile reached her eyes while her long tanned legs stepped around the counter towards the woman at the bookrack. Bruce could hear the conversation easily, but his brain was scrambled around the beauty of the young woman. He shuffled over to the counter watching the woman a little too intently. He turned quickly when her eyes met his.

"¿Cómo puedo ayudo a tú?" The woman asked as she ran her fingers across the length of his broad shoulders.

"Si. ¿Cuánto por la carro?" Bruce asked; his voice shook as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. The woman's smile brightened as she rounded the counter pulling out a black notebook. Her long, slender fingers traced down the page while her plump lower lip slipped between her pearl white teeth.

"I have two cars, both for sell right now. The black one is 3,995€, and the dark green rust bucket is 800€. I can't guarantee it'll run far though." She leaned forward on the counter revealing enough to cause a man's heart to beat a little faster. The band beeped repeatedly.

He quickly pulled the crinkled banknotes from his pocket while stuttering, "I-I'll t-ta-take the gr-green one."

She giggled before turning around, bending down at a very suggestive angle causing the band to beep faster, and pulling out a silver key on a magic eight-ball key chain. She licked her lips before leaning over the counter again, "Here you go."

"T-thanks," Bruce stumbled back a few steps before hurrying out of the building. He shook the images of her low cut shirt and painted on shorts from his mind as he found the car. The key he thrust into the door wouldn't turn, so he tried it in the black car sitting next to him. The key slid into place easily and clicked the lock as it should. He chuckled to himself as he climbed into the car. "Women…"

* * *

The drive to the coast wasn't as long as Bruce expected it to be, neither was the ferry ride to England. He knew the hard part would be finding his way onto a boat to Ireland. Mr. White had to have an answer. Day to day living, praying that your heart didn't speed up at the sight of a beautiful woman or a good run, was too much for Bruce to handle anymore.

Walking towards the docks, he noticed a couple of men. Black suits, black sunglasses, getting out of black sedans. "Shit!" Quickening his pace, Bruce could feel his blood begin to boil slowly. He recognized one of the men.

"Coulson," hissed Bruce before slipping into the shadows of a barge.

"He has to be here," the snarky SHIELD agent proclaimed. "This is the only path he has to Mr. White." Fury! Nick Fury must have hacked the computer sequence, or General Ross found a way to get in first.

"I can't believe he fell for this trick," Coulson's partner laughed, "he's be on the run for years, you'd think there would be some kind of proto call as to what he believed."

Bruce sighed before studying his surroundings, but Fury wasn't his only problem. There were people dressed in camouflage searching barges. "Damn it!" He quickly pulled his disposable cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the only number he could think of.

"Hello, thank you for calling the Stark residence, how may I help you," a cheerful male voice answered.

"Jarvis?" Bruce questioned as he held the cell phone tighter to his ear.

"Yes," Tony Stark's mechanical butler asked. Bruce shook his head as the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

"You sound more and more human every time I speak with you," he laughed. "This is Bruce Banner. Can I speak with Tony?"

"I'm afraid he's in the middle of something, Mr. Banner…"

"No, Jarvis, this is an emergency. Put him on the phone now!"

"Alright."

Bruce waited for mere minutes that seemed like hours before he heard the click of a phone being picked up. Muffled arguing filled the silence. "Tony?"

"Hey, big guy," Tony laughed before hissing, "will you just stop! Why can't we take a normal vacation for once, Pepper?"

"Hey Pepper," Bruce half yelled into Tony's ear. "I need a place to hide out. Fury and Ross are after me…again!"

"Come to the Tower, you can stay with us," Tony suggested.

Pepper and Bruce simultaneously breathed, "NO!"

"I need a place to hide, Tony. You're like a signing beacon of 'LOOK AT ME!" That won't work." He explained with a sneer before stopping a crew member on the ship. "¿A dónde navegan?"

"Wh-what? Who are you talking to?" Tony barked.

"Para New York." The sailor replied.

"A guy on this ship I just hopped on," Bruce hissed, "¿Cuánto tarda?"

"What ship?"

"The one I'm on trying to hide from everyone looking for me. God, Tony, are you listening to a word I've said," Banner schooled.

"Unas dos semanas, señor," the sailor answered with an eyebrow raised.

"¿Hay un helipuerto a bordo?" Bruce whispered as he noticed Coulson doubling back towards his bardge.

"Si," the sailor answered.

"Did you say heli-something," Tony questioned, Pepper yelled, "Heli-something?"

"Yeah, they have a helicopter pad on the ship I'm on. You think you could send a chopper to get me off this metal bunker waiting to be sunk by 'the other guy?'"

"Yeah, text me the name of the ship and I'll send the rescue squad. I even have a place for you to crash when you get to California," Tony reassured him. Bruce almost sighed with relief.

"Not the Malibu house," Bruce complained. The last time he was in the Malibu house he broke through the glass wall nearly falling off a cliff.

"No…" Tony trailed off, the metal click signaling he was away from Pepper, "I just bought a warehouse. It's storing most of what I've been working on lately, but Pep doesn't know about it. There's a bed, a fridge, and a microwave; Jarvis is connected to the security system to keep out unwanted guests. You're welcomed to it."

"Alright, thanks, Tony." Bruce hung up the phone without a goodbye. He grabbed an old black baseball cap to replace his ratty blue hat.

"¿Cuál es el nombre de este barco?"

* * *

Four days later, Bruce was situated in a warehouse with at least forty Iron Man suits of all different colors. The first order of business he decided on was turning the emergency acid wash corner of the lab into a faux shower. He couldn't remember the last time he had a decent bath, but that would change soon. The extra blue tarp Tony had lying around would work perfectly for a shower curtain.

Bruce just finished rigging the shower and taking off his shirt when he heard the door of the warehouse open and close. He walked towards the front of the building carefully, the band beeped twice. "Honey, I'm home! And that heart rate monitor is going to be you're down fall one of these days," Tony's familiar voice echoed.

"You know, I just built you a shower in here," Bruce laughed as Tony's face popped around the suits.

"It was built in, you just accessorized it," he laughed before putting the brown bags on the floor. "I brought food, a few shirts, and these new stretchy jeans. If you Hulk out they won't rip!"

"Please tell me you brought a hot plate with the food," Bruce almost pleaded.

"I did! I knew you'd ask since you're such a soup freak," Tony laughed.

"Good, now, throw me some soap," he chuckled as he grabbed the pants and a shirt off the table. "Is this yours," he questioned catching the soap.

"Yes, I couldn't get away with buying new things for you, so I had to bring what I had," Tony shrugged.

"There's no way in hell this will fit me," he complained.

"Beggars can't be choosers, Bruce. Now, I have to run. Pepper thinks I'm with Rhodey and he thinks I'm with Pep because you insisted on no one knowing you were here."

"I'll go out and get my own clothes after I shower," Bruce stated, "have fun with Rhodey and Pepper!" Tony laughed before leaving his friend alone.

Always surrounded by the deafening silences of aloneness, Bruce sighed before washing the dirt, grime, and sadness down the drain.


	3. Chapter 2: My Name is Bob

"Honey, I'm home," Tony yelled as he walked into his favorite house; the Malibu penthouse. He knew no one was home, but he always liked to announce himself because Jarvis always felt more like a human than a computer.

"Hello, sir. Ms. Potts is still at the office. She did inquire why you went out so early this morning," Jarvis informed.

"And…"

"I told her you had an errand to run for your newest toy."

Tony laughed, "Good boy, Jarvis." He shrugged out of his jacket and shoes, "I did pick up some things for the Mark 42, and you're new update is finally ready. You will be able to actually leave the house, big guy."

"I've always been able to leave the house in the Iron Man suits, sir," Jarvis stated. If he would've been a real man his eyes would have rolled as a sneer crossed his features.

"Yes, but this will be a lot different. See now you'll be able to see all the safe houses and monitor who comes and goes for me," Tony smiled.

"What don't I do for you, sir," Jarvis stated. "You should be nicer. I may end up sending you to the community college with Dummy!"

"You wouldn't!" Tony could almost hear the mechanical laughter.

"Yeah, yeah. Can you work the coffee maker? I don't feel like going back out for a coffee run, or dealing with Happy if I ask him. And Pepper is probably mad so you know she won't."

"It will be ready in approximately five minutes."

"Perfect! Thank you, Jarvis. I'm probably going to go out again tomorrow morning. I'll take the 'new toy' with me so you can tell Pepper that it's a test run. Hopefully I'll be back before she leaves for the office."

"I'll try to remember that, Mr. Stark."

Tony smiled to himself as he heard the coffee maker gurgle to life. He plopped down on the couch before turning the television on to check the news. Another bombing of a tech lab was all over the screen. "The Mandarin has struck again," the reporter yelled into the microphone. "When will these bombings stop!"

An aging oriental man, lacking hair on his head but not in his beard, appeared on the screen. His eyes a cold shade of black spoke volumes before he opened his mouth. "I am going to teach America a very valuable lesson…"

"You're coffee is ready."

"Do we know anything about this guy, Jarvis," Tony questioned mindlessly pouring a cup, taking a sip, and adding a touch of brandy to it.

"We have not been informed, although Colonel James Rhodes has called several times this week."

"Call him back; set up a lunch thing for me." He takes a few more sips of coffee. "You make horrible coffee, Jarvis. Don't forget to check in with Bruce after you update in a few hours."

* * *

Bruce walked along the sidewalk, window shopping for clothes that he would find comfortable. He pushed the dark sunglasses he found at the warehouse further up on his nose before pulling the black cap he stole from the barge lower. Something about being in a large crowd of people frightened him, but he knew he couldn't spend time doing the same thing in that warehouse if Tony was going to continue to pop by unexpectedly.

Another thought crossed his mind, a thought he'd tried to push away more and more now that he was back in America. He could see those stunning blue eyes clearly as he could see the perfect blue sky. Had she cut her long, wavy chocolate hair? _Betty Ross. _Bruce knew he should probably go see the woman he considered the love of his life, but he was afraid. He didn't give her time to process 'the other guy'; there was no way of knowing how she felt about him. He couldn't invade her life again, not just because he was still in love with her, because he couldn't take it if she had moved on…

A light grey, short sleeved, button down shirt caught his attention on a nearby kiosk a pretty blonde haired girl was running. _"She's just Tony's type,"_ he chuckled to himself as he approached the cart. He grabbed the grey shirt along with blue and green shirts of the same style, and the khaki draw string shorts. "Oh, those are going to look really good on you," she winked before Bruce handed her a few bills. He blushed slightly as she wrote her number on his recipt while handing him his bags.

His money was running low, but he wasn't too sure of what he could do in the area. Tony set Bruce up in the most remote place he could think of, which happened to be in the research facility part of town the only thing surrounding him was a lot of labs. A lab was definitely the last place on Earth he would ever considering working, there was one other thing. A used car shop wasn't too far from the warehouse, and it wouldn't be too bad or hard to get a mechanic's position…

Bruce walked the five mile trip back to the warehouse before heading towards the dealership, a mile in the direction he bought clothes. Several men smiled waiting like vultures to sell him a beat up wreck. "I'm looking for the owner of the place," he smiled as he continued walking towards the only air condition building on the lot.

"He's in the back office, sir," one of the men called as he walked into the building.

"If there's a problem with the car we sold you, there was fine print in the contract saying 'sold as is' so I can't help you," a tall man with salt and pepper hair waltzed out of the back room. "If you're looking for a good car, you're in the right place," his smile was nothing short 'winning.' If Satan had a human face, Bruce knew who he looked like.

"I can fix your problem," Bruce stated. His short stature barely met the man's shoulder, but his features were set and he made a point not to fidget.

"How's that, sonny," the older man chuckled.

"If you pay me under the table, I can fix up those clunkers outside. People won't come back or try to sue you anymore." Bruce stared into those cold, dark pits the man had for eyes.

"How do I know you're not lying to me?" The corners of his mouth turned down as he leaned against the corner of a desk.

"I'll fix one car for free. The rest, I want at least $50 a car for labor."

The man's eyes gleamed as he nodded, "I have just the car then." He led Bruce into a dark show room before flipping on the lights. "This is old Fred. No one can get this car started. If you can, the job is yours." Bruce nodded before the man handed him the keys.

"I'm Big Mike, if you get it working." The man's maniacal laughter filled the room.

"My name is Bob." Bruce held his hand out causing Mike to laugh harder. He turned his eyes towards the floor, "Where're the tools?" Mike pointed to a large red shelf/box before he took his laughter from the room.

Unlocking the door and popping the hood of the rusty red1960 Ford truck was easy. "Let's see what's wrong with you…" he trailed off turning the key in the ignition. There wasn't a click to signal the starter worked.

Bruce climbed out of the driver's seat before climbing under the hood. The battery cables were rusted, there was a hole in the air filter, it needed a new gasket, and the starter needed to be checked. He used to fix pipes and machine starters at the factory in Guatemala all the time, the air filter might be problematic, but the cables just needed scrubbing.

A metallic brush drew his attention from the engine; it was perfect for scrubbing the cables, so he fixed the battery first. He pulled out the starter before putting a sealer on the pipe to dry. The starter had two frayed wires which he fixed with electrical tape. Lastly, he pulled the air filter out, flushed the dirt, and found the hole. He noticed a bin marked spare parts; he shuffled through it until he found a similar air filter in good condition that needed to be cleaned.

Four hours after Bruce started the truck roared to life causing several heads to pop into the show room. He fine turned the engine before attaching a battery charger to the battery since it was almost dead from not being run. All it needed now was a good paint job; pride filled his smile as he stood back to admire his work.

"Well I'll be damned," Big Mike's voice boomed through the corridor before he entered the room. "You got Fred kicking!"

"How'd he do that?" some salesman asked in the background.

"He's a genius!" another one laughed.

"I got the job then," Bruce grinned, trying to keep the cockiness from his tone.

"Yeah, if you can get Fred running you can probably make brand new cars out of our fixer-uppers." Big Mike laughed patting him on the back. "Give me a number where I can reach you for emergencies and you can get started tomorrow."

"I'll bring the number with me tomorrow then," he agreed. "Thanks, Mike."

Bruce returned to his new home with a smile on his face. The shower was calling his name as he began stripping out of his greasy clothes. Bags littered the table from his shopping trip earlier, reminding him that he would have to call for takeout or rummage through the fridge that was stocked with whatever fit Tony's mood at the time he set up the warehouse for him. He was sliding out of his pants and fixing the leaver on the acid wash station so it would continuously run without Bruce having to hold it when a familiar voice echoed, "Hello, Dr. Banner."


End file.
